Suspect In Custody, Multiple Dead In Boulder Supermarket Shooting - Updated

**Updated to include additional information**

Authorities in Boulder, Colorado say at least ten people were killed, including a Boulder police officer, at a King Sooper supermarket on Monday afternoon, and an injured suspect is in custody. The shooting was first reported shortly after 2 p.m. local time, with hundreds of officers responding to the scene, the first within “minutes” according to a law enforcement briefing.

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Eyewitnesses told local media that they heard at least 30 shots fired inside the supermarket, and two men told the Denver Post that the attacker simply walked in and opened fire.

Two roommates who live near the King Soopers told The Denver Post they were at the self-checkout buying a pizza for lunch when a gunman entered the store.

“He didn’t say shit,” said one of them, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “He just came in and started shooting.”

The other witness said the gunman “let off a couple of shots, then was silent, and then he let off a couple more. He wasn’t spraying.”

The two men were able to escape out the back of the store.

According to FOX 31 in Denver, another eyewitness saw the suspect in the parking lot before he entered the store, holding what was described as an “AR-style” firearm, though authorities were tight-lipped about the suspect, saying only that the investigation was in its earliest stages.

At a press conference held Monday evening, Commander Kerry Yamaguchi said that the crime scene was still being processed, and could not release the number of fatalities, though the local District Attorney clarified that police do know the number, but are waiting until family members have been informed before releasing that information publicly.

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A short time after the press conference concluded, however, the Boulder Police reported that at least ten people, including the police officer, were killed in the attack. Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold identified the officer as 51-year old Eric Talley, a member of the department since 2010, and the first officer to arrive on scene.

As for the suspect, police released very little information, saying only that he was injured and being treated at a local hospital. Video from the scene showed officers escorting a handcuffed man wearing only shorts or boxer shorts with blood on his leg, though Yamaguchi said he hadn’t seen the video and wouldn’t confirm if the man was the suspect that had been taken into custody. He did say, however, that he was not aware of any other people who were injured other than the man in custody.

So that’s what we know at the moment. And if you care, here’s what I know:

I know that anti-gun activists have already started using this shooting as social media fodder for their calls for a gun ban or to attack those who support the Second Amendment. And as a Second Amendment activist, maybe I should be on Twitter right now arguing about Biden’s gun ban. As a human being, it just feels disrespectful (though I know plenty of people who’ll disagree with me).

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Personally, I don’t feel comfortable engaging in the standard debate over gun control in the first few hours after an attack like this. There will be time enough for the politics, and in today’s hyper-reactive media and political environment that time will come in very short order. But it feels appropriate to give these these families a few hours to at least learn the news that their loved ones aren’t coming home before we all start arguing (and insulting each other) over banning guns as a response.

 

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